Eleven Secret Service agents in Colombia for President Barack Obama’s trip there have been relieved of their duties amid allegations of misconduct.
The Secret Service did not detail the accusations but said they did not affect security for the president, who landed in the country Friday for a weekend at the Summit of the Americas.
“There have been allegations of misconduct made against Secret Service personnel in Cartagena, Colombia prior to the President’s trip. Because of this, those personnel are being relieved of their assignments, returned to their place of duty, and are being replaced by other Secret Service personnel,” Edwin Donovan, Secret Service spokesman, said in a statement.
“The Secret Service takes all allegations of misconduct seriously. This entire matter has been turned over to our Office of Professional Responsibility, which serves as the agency’s internal affairs component,” Donovan said. “These personnel changes will not affect the comprehensive security plan that has been prepared in advance of the President’s trip.”
Donovan would not release further details, and the White House referred all questions about the episode to the Secret Service.
Ronald Kessler, a former Washington Post reporter and author of the book “In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes With Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect,” first heard about the investigation and tipped off Post reporters Friday night.
“It is the biggest scandal in Secret Service history,” Kessler said in an interview Saturday with POLITICO. “It is all part of this pattern that I wrote about in the book of corner cutting, laxness, cover up.”
Kessler said he heard of 12 agents being involved, others for attempting to cover it up. The group includes two supervisors, he said.
One of the agents allegedly involved was not part of the Secret Service detail whose plainclothes agents shadow the president in public, but a supervisor in the Counter Assault Team, according to CBS News, which did not cite specific sources.
The story broke as Obama was preparing to attend a gala dinner with more than 30 leaders gathered for the summit.
Meanwhile, five U.S. military members have been ordered confined to quarters over possible involvement in inappropriate conduct at the same hotel here as the 11 Secret Service personnel sent home in an unfolding scandal.
Making the announcement Saturday, United States Southern Command commander Gen. Douglas Fraser said he is “disappointed by the entire incident and that this behavior is not in keeping with the professional standards expected of members of the United States military.”
The Secret Service confirmed Saturday night that 11 of its staffers assigned to the trip have been placed on administrative leave as the investigation of (edited by YWN) “highly inappropriate behavior” proceeds.
“The nature of the allegations, coupled with a zero tolerance policy on personal misconduct, resulted in the Secret Service taking the decisive action to relieve these individuals of their assignment” and send them home, Secret Service Assistant Director Paul Morrissey said in the agency’s most detailed statement to date.
“The personnel involved were brought to Secret Service Headquarters in Washington, D.C., for interviews today. These interviews have been completed,” Morrissey added. He called the administrative leave “standard procedure [that] allows us the opportunity to conduct a full, thorough and fair investigation into the allegations.”
Morrissey said some of the Secret Service personnel were special agents and some were part of the Service’s Uniformed Division, but none came from the Presidential Protective Division — the iconic plainclothes agents who shadow the president at his public events.
Earlier Saturday, the White House maintained its stance of refusing to comment on the scandal, even as word came that military personnel were also involved.
White House press secretary Jay Carney, in an on-camera briefing in Cartagena Saturday afternoon, said of the military personnel that “It is our understanding this is part of the same incident” as the Secret Service.
Carney confirmed that the White House was informed of the incident by the Secret Service on Thursday and that Obama was told about it Friday.
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One Response
Its no big deal other than to help Kessler sell his book. These agents acted with poor judgment but they are career employees who worked for Bush and the next president and its no reflection on the President himself. I’m not sure why there isn’t more focus on the really important news about the economic decisions reached at the meetings in Columbia that will affect international trade and financial stability.